


No Shortage in the Blood Supply

by perfectpro



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Engagement, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-24 00:05:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6134599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectpro/pseuds/perfectpro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natalie sniffs, forcing her breathing to come normally, and says, “I never thought you’d marry him.”</p>
<p>And Lydia doesn’t want to be so cruel, but she can’t help it sometimes, and she snaps, “Well I never thought that you wouldn’t be excited for me, but here we are.”</p>
<p>It’s a lie. She’d known Natalie would be less than thrilled.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Shortage in the Blood Supply

When Lydia calls her mother to announce the engagement, Natalie cries. And Lydia sits by the phone, frigid in the Boston winter, tears of her own springing to her eyes. She’s glad she’s doing this on the porch instead of inside, because Stiles is leaning against the window, straining to catch whatever snippets of the conversation that he can, and she doesn’t want him to hear this.

She’s knows it coming, and he has to, too, but that doesn’t mean she won’t try to protect him from whatever she can. God knows he doesn’t let her do it often enough.

“He asked, Mom, and I said yes.” Lydia presses her hands against the iron railing, cool to the touch, and remembers that there’s supposed to be snow tomorrow. Not for the first time, she wishes that she’d moved to a warmer city. The cold has never suited her properly.

Natalie sniffs, forcing her breathing to come normally, and says, “I never thought you’d marry him.”

And Lydia doesn’t want to be so cruel, but she can’t help it sometimes, and she snaps, “Well I never thought that you wouldn’t be excited for me, but here we are.”

It’s a lie. She’d known Natalie would be less than thrilled.

“I know, Lydia, but… I just never thought you’d marry him,” Natalie says, and it sounds even worse the second time around. Maybe she should have seen that coming. “I thought you’d break up.”

Lydia’s known that ever since her first date with Stiles, because her mother had protested for a week straight and agreed only the day of, saying ruefully that it was fine so long as she didn’t marry him. And she knows her mom hasn’t changed her mind, even though she knows Stiles better and he tries so hard to make her think more of him, Lydia knows that Natalie will always think of Stiles as the boy who put her daughter into harm’s way.

“We’ve lived together for a year and a half, Mom.” Longer than that, really, because they basically lived together for six months before Lydia told Stiles not to renew the lease on his own apartment. Lydia just doesn’t know how her mom didn’t see this coming. For her, it’s been inevitable. Ever since she kissed him to stop a panic attack, this is the road they’ve been traveling down.

It shouldn’t feel this painful, telling her mother she’s getting married. It shouldn’t remind her of lying catatonic in a hospital bed, just as helpless as she’s always been. And it should surprise her when Natalie tells her, “I thought you would find someone. Someone else.”

It should surprise her, but it really, really doesn’t.

Lydia thinks about trying to explain how she did find someone. She found Stiles, or Stiles found her, or maybe they found each other. She’s been explaining for three years, though, and maybe it’s time that she stop trying to make her mother understand because it’s a moot point by now. No matter how much she wants her mother to understand, she doesn’t, and it kills her.

“Well, I didn’t.” Even the thought of being with someone other than Stiles feels like a punch to the stomach, and Lydia glances in the window, where Stiles is not so subtly trying to listen in.

He jerks away and waves at her, a little ashamed, pretending to pick up a magazine and be totally absorbed in that. It’s a totally unsuccessful attempt at diversion, but, and God bless him, he tried.

Natalie sighs in her ear, and Lydia tears her eyes away from Stiles, because she can’t look at him and listen to her mother say something ridiculous like she deserves better when there’s nothing better out there. Not for her, at least. There’s never been.

Instead, Natalie tries something different. “You know it’s not because I don’t like him.” And Lydia didn’t know that, actually. Because her mom’s been pretty clear on the not-liking Stiles front. Blatantly obvious, really, which made for some very uncomfortable holiday dinners since in between asking if Lydia could pass the ham, Natalie had been badmouthing her boyfriend right in front of him.

Leaning more on the railing, Lydia considers hanging up. She came out here to tell her mom she’s engaged, and she’s done that. Something to check off the to-do list. She doesn’t have to stay and listen to this. Especially not if it means it’ll turn into another conversation where both of them end up in tears.

“I like Stiles, sweetie. I just don’t want you to marry him,” Natalie explains quietly.

Or date him, or be around him, or exist within his general vicinity. Lydia’s been involved in enough arguments similar to this one that she knows where it’s going. And it’s exhausting, having to think of all the reasons as to why she shouldn’t hang up right now and go back inside, kiss Stiles senseless because she’s going to be doing it for the rest of her life and she needs to get started as soon as she can.

She should have brought her coat out with her. This jacket isn’t made for staying outside long. “I’m going to marry him, Mom. I love him.” Because this is all she can think of, that she’s going to marry the man she loves and her mother wants to stand in the way.

A long suffering sigh comes through the line, and Lydia wants to end the call and ignore everything remotely related to romance, maybe tell Stiles that they’re not planning anything fancy, they’ll elope on the steps of the courthouse and have Scott and Kira witness and she won’t have to deal with the very real possibility of her mother not coming to her wedding. God, she can’t deal with it.

It’s been two hours. Within the hour, they called Scott on speakerphone and he cried, and Stiles asked Scott to be his best man, and Lydia couldn’t believe the net of support that they have around them. And after, Stiles had called his dad and John had asked him to put Lydia on, and John told her that he was thrilled to be getting her as a daughter-in-law. Lydia may have burst into renewed tears.

Stiles is never going to hear Natalie say something like that to him, and, not for the first time, Lydia can’t believe this is her mother who’s stopping her from being happy.

“I know you love him. Lydia, I’d be an idiot if I didn’t think you loved him. And I know he loves you, after everything you’ve been through, of course he loves you. How could he not? My beautiful, wonderful daughter. How could he not love you?” And then Lydia inhales sharply, because she wasn’t prepared for this. “Of course he loves you.”

And Lydia tries to bite her tongue, but she can’t hold it back. “Then why don’t you want me to marry him?” she demands, slamming her hand against the brick wall of the house. She yanks it back, stinging from the cold, and then she looks to the window again, praying that Stiles hasn’t suddenly developed the ability to read lips. 

But instead of finding Stiles jerking back from the window, losing his balance because he’s been caught, instead he’s standing in the kitchen, holding a phone to his shoulder and looking in the fridge.

“I’m not going to stop you, God knows you’d go ahead and do it anyway!” Natalie snaps.

“I didn’t say you were going to stop me, I know you wouldn’t try to stop me,” Lydia returns, twisting the ring around on her finger. Who is Stiles talking to? They already called his dad and Scott. Is he calling Melissa? Derek? “But you don’t want me to marry him, and I don’t understand why. If you know that we love each other, why? Why don’t you want me to marry someone I love, someone who loves me?” 

Isn’t that what all parents want for their children? For them to grow up and be happy and love someone and find someone who loves them? Lydia doesn’t even know if she wants kids, but if she has them, she knows she wants them to be happy.

Natalie hesitates, and then Lydia chokes out, “Don’t you want me to be happy?” Because that’s what’s killing her, doesn’t her mother want that for her?

“Of course I want you to be happy, Lydia!” Natalie yells, and Lydia jerks the phone a little ways away from her ear. She just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all, she thinks, shivering.

Pressing a hand to her eyes, Lydia waits until the entoptic phenomena kick in, and then she tries to remind herself to just breathe. It’s no different than all of the arguments she and her mother had in high school, whether she could throw a party or stay out late or hang out with a pack of teenagers whose days seemed like they were numbered. It’s no different, but even as she tries to convince herself she knows it’s not working. Abruptly, she asks, “Then why can’t you be happy for me?”

Natalie goes quiet, and Lydia looks out at the cloudy night sky. Nearing midnight here, nearing nine in Beacon Hills. After the argument, she can go to sleep and rest, and her mother will still have an hour to stay up stewing in it. At least this way, she thinks, maybe her mother can see how wrong she is.

Whispering, Natalie finally responds, “You won’t be safe with him. You’ll never be safe, and I don’t want you to be with someone who puts you in harm’s way.”

It’s what they’ve been building towards since Lydia wandered out of the woods in a fugue state. It’s the reason her mother signed her into Eichen House in the first place, because she genuinely believed that it would keep her safe. And where Lydia’s been in those situations, Stiles has never been far away, barreling through to bring her out. Even after knowing everything, it’s why Natalie doesn’t trust Stiles further than she can throw him. And it’s also the most ridiculous thing Lydia’s ever heard.

Jaw clenched, Lydia manages, “Stiles would never put me in harm’s way.” It’s ludicrous, absolutely unfathomable, because after all they’ve been through together the one thing that Lydia knows is that Stiles will protect her with his last breath. It’s almost happened too many times for her comfort.

And she’ll do the same for her. It’s what’s gotten them into so much trouble.

“Danger is drawn to that boy, and I don’t want you anywhere near him,” Natalie presses, refuses to give up even though she has to know she’s fighting a losing battle.

“We’ve been dating for three years, you couldn’t have tried telling me this before I got engaged?” Nails pushing into her palm, Lydia shivers and tries to keep from crying. “I’m marrying ‘that boy,’ so I think it’s a little late for you to say that.” Truthfully, any time would have been too late for Natalie to make this argument. If Lydia has to choose between leaving Stiles in danger and helping to protecting him, it’s the easiest choice she’s ever made. It always has been.

“I thought you’d break up, and you’d settle down with someone sensible. I never thought that you’d marry him, Lydia. If I thought that, I would have… I would have…” Drifting off, Natalie seems to think about what exactly she could have done.

She couldn’t have done anything that would have prevented her. Lydia stands perfectly erect, wind cutting through her jacket, and she knows that nothing can stop her when it comes to Stiles.

Finally breaking the silence on her own, Lydia announces, “Stiles has never let anyone hurt me.”

“What about Eichen House? What they did to you in there, Lydia, I swear to God…”

“Do you think he let those things happen? He was the one who saved me; he got me out of that hell hole, and you know it.” Because if they’re being brutally, leave everything on the table, honest here, her mother is the reason she wound up in there. And Lydia can be harsh, but she can’t bring herself to say that, not when she knows how much it would hurt Natalie. She holds it in instead, shaking.

Steadying herself with a deep breath, Natalie says, “Even before then. How many times have you been hurt? How many times have I gotten a call that my little girl is in a hospital bed? I don’t know how I’m going to live if I knowingly let you keep doing this, if I have to stay in constant fear. Please, Lydia.” And Lydia pictures it, a nervous habit that Natalie passed onto her, because the Martin women are vain even when they’re not thinking about, dabbing at her lipstick in the mirror.

Lydia doesn’t know what the please is for. If her mother is pleading with her about changing her mind about getting married, she’s severely mistaken. “I get hurt sometimes, yes. And we’ve had close calls before, I know how scared you’ve been, but Stiles and I get through them together. Without him, things would have been a lot worse.” She might have stayed in Eichen House until it was too late, and God knows what else wouldn’t have worked without him by their sides.

“I need you to stay safe,” Natalie breathes, soft and pleading, and once again Lydia doesn’t know what she’s asking for.

“I’m always going to be in danger, Mom. Why can’t you just be happy that at least I found someone who’s going to make sure I always make it out all right?” Lydia asks, choking back tears.

With a sigh, Natalie says simply, “You’re going to marry him.”

Nodding, Lydia agrees, “I’m going to marry him.”

She waits for the pivotal moment, because she doesn’t want to get married without her mother’s approval. It’s stupid, beyond stupid, but she wants a fairy tale wedding day. She wants her mother to help her get pick out her dress, she wants her mother to give a toast at the reception. She wants to dance with the Sheriff while Stiles dances with Natalie. They’re little things, but they’re important.

Twisting her ring around, getting used to how it feels, Lydia repeats herself, because her mother can’t think that she’s going to change her mind. “I’m going to marry him. I love him.” As if she could ever look at anyone else.

“Okay,” Natalie says, quiet, contemplative. “I guess that’s that, then.” She pauses, and though she’s going to continue and make a point, maybe try to get Lydia to reconsider, but instead she stays silent and lets the conversation deteriorate.

Lydia doesn’t know where this leaves them. “That’s that,” she tries, hoping against everything that Natalie will suddenly turn into the support system that she needs right now.

It stays quiet, and Lydia’s halfway to assuming the call’s been dropped, but it’s more likely that her mother’s just hung up on her, and then Natalie interrupts her train of thought. “I guess I’ll talk to you later, then,” she mentions, pausing before adding, “I’ll see you over Christmas.”

Sucking in a breath, Lydia tries not to let her tears spill over. “Yeah, I guess. Bye, Mom.”

This can’t be it, this can’t be the conversation they’re having, but Natalie just says, “Bye, Lydia.”

And then it’s over, Lydia’s looking at a disconnected phone call before the screen goes dark, shivering in the Boston cold. Finally, she stuff the phone in her pocket and presses her lips together, and she’s not going to cry. She’s not going to cry, because it’s been a good day, really, and she’s not going to let her mother ruin it from three thousand miles away.

Placing both hands on the railing, she leans forward and grits her teeth. She’s handled worse than this, and she’ll get through this disappointment. She just needs a little time to not think about it, and then she’ll go back inside and tell Stiles about it. About how her mother doesn’t want her to marry him.

Maybe she’ll need a little more time than she thought. Because Stiles’s mother obviously won’t be at the wedding, and she honestly hopes that her mother doesn’t come if she’s just going to ruin everything. Well, Melissa will be there, at least. Though she and Stiles haven’t talked about it yet, Lydia’s fairly sure that he’s going to ask Melissa if she’ll join him for the mother-son dance.

Briefly, Lydia wonders if Melissa would consider taking over the duties of mother of the bride in addition to mother of the groom. She’s the pack mom, after all. And it’s not like Natalie will be supportive.

Finally letting the tears fall, Lydia clenches her hands around the railing and gives herself a rare moment to sit back and cry. Because it sucks, it honestly does, and there’s nothing she can do about it.

Behind her, the door clicks open and then shut. She hears Stiles cross the porch, and she turns to him before he gets to her, because she needs him right now. Not saying anything, she just pulls him close, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest, grateful that he’s at the perfect height for her to do that with. 

Stiles pauses, setting something around her shoulders before setting his arms around her properly. “I figured you’d probably gotten cold,” he says, petting her back soothingly over the coat he placed on her.

“Thanks,” she whispers, praying that he doesn’t ask how the talk with her mother went. It should be plenty obvious, and she really doesn’t want to go through it all tonight.

They stand there for several minutes, still and shivering against the wind that whips towards them, Stiles turning them to shield Lydia from as much as it as he can. She squeezes her eyes shut, because he really will protect her from everything. And then she remembers what she was going to ask him about earlier, finally lifting her head up and sniffing as she asks, “Who were you on the phone with earlier?”

Probably Derek, she knows, because he and Stiles are actually fairly close. They have bi-monthly Skype sessions to go over the latest supernatural phenomena, and Stiles keeps Lydia updated on where Derek and Braeden are now and what they’re going after. 

Stiles shrugs, and then he admits, “I called your dad, actually.”

Lydia freezes, because she was going to call her dad tomorrow, maybe the day after, when she had the time. And she loves her father, but they’ve never been close, and he and Stiles certainly aren’t the best of friends. “How is he?” she asks finally, unsure of what to expect.

“He’s good, really good. He’s coming here next Thursday on business, actually, and he asked if he could take us to dinner. I said I’d have to check with you, of course, but he sounded really excited about it. I think it would be good to go. For you, I mean,” he says, trying not to press too hard.

It just wasn’t what she was expecting, exactly. Not that she thought her dad would be unsupportive, because he does seem to like Stiles, but it just surprises her a little. In a good way. “Yeah, I think I’m good next Thursday. We don’t have to go if you don’t want to, though.” Does she have anything on Thursday? Probably nothing that can’t be moved around if she needs.

Running his hand down the coat, Stiles strokes small patterns into her side. “I think it would be good. He was really happy, when I told him about the engagement. I think he almost started crying,” he jokes, the hint of a grin playing at the corner of his lips.

“Yeah, we should go. I’ll call him back,” Lydia says, reaching up and touches the edge of Stiles’s jaw. Most days, she doesn’t understand how she got this lucky with him. “I want you to know that I’m really excited.” It’s so important that he knows what she’s trying to say, but she doesn’t quite know how to say it. “To marry you, whatever happens, I’m really excited to marry you.”

She just needs him to understand that. And she’s not going to cry again, but tears prick at the back of her eyelids and she feels the urge to press her palms to her eyelids until she sees stars. Instead, she gives him a smile that she hopes isn’t too watery.

Stiles returns it, pulling her just a little closer as he does. “I’m really excited to marry you, too.” And when she tilts her head up, he leans down ever so slightly to press their lips together. And Lydia smiles into the kiss, confident that this is it. This is the boy, this is the life that she’s meant to have. Ever since she realized that she’d die for Stiles Stilinski without a second thought, there’s never been another choice.

**Author's Note:**

> I really like Natalie's character, but I really can't see her being excited for Lydia to stay so close to people in the supernatural world. I wrote all of this after she pushed Stiles out of Lydia's hospital room because I couldn't ignore how she would react to him entering Lydia's life in a more permanent manner.
> 
> Also, I'm helpless-in-sleep on tumblr, come chat with me about Stydia if you feel the need!


End file.
